Maulawi Habibullah Haqqani, chairman of the Taliban’s Ulema gathering held in Kabul today, asked participants to obey the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada with a "firm resolve”. Haqqani added that their leader is “an example of the Rashidun Caliphs".
According to Haqqani "disagreement with the government is an impermissible act”. However, the Taliban’s supreme leader wasn’t present at the gathering.
The Taliban’s three-day Ulema gathering kicked off on Thursday, June 30, at the Loya Jirga tent with the participation of 3,500 tribal elders and Ulema, as claimed by the group.
The first day started with the speech of Mullah Hassan Akhund, the Taliban’s PM. “Those who fought with Mujahideen [Taliban], were forgiven, but they didn’t stop and are still making problems for the nation”, he said in his speech, pointing to the armed opposition groups. In fact, most of the speakers of the gathering, emphasized on supporting the Taliban government. Mullah Hassan Akhund said that supporting the Taliban government is the responsibility of Ulema and tribal elders.
Haqqani also asked Taliban officials to have the will to serve Islam and Afghanistan sincerely. He emphasized on the obedience of the people to the government and said that “obedience in an Islamic government is an important principle and we must obey pious elders with sincerity and honesty in all affairs”.
While the Ulema gathering was held without the presence of the media, sources tell Afghanistan International that journalists were gathered at the Intercontinental hotel, within proximity of the gathering. It was only the Taliban spokespersons who provided them with information from the gathering.
According to the rules of the Ulema meeting, independent journalists are not allowed to enter the Loya Jirga tent and only Taliban-controlled media have the right to keep audio recordings from the meeting.
According to Information which has been leaked to the media, the talks have centred around supporting the Taliban government, calling the resistance against the group a rebellion, supporting independence and commitment to peace and national interest.
Bakhtar News Agency, the Taliban-controlled media organisation, have alleged that Maulawi Abdul Hakim Haqqani, chief justice of the Supreme Court, asked the Ulema to covey to the public at mosques, villages, and madrassas that resistance against the Islamic government is prohibited.
